


I Want You to Notice Me Too

by bbubbleddae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Angst, F/F, Fem!Sehun, Friends to Lovers, Genderswap, adding more when i get to it again, fem!baekhyun, fem!chen, fem!suho, i'm sorry it's bad lol, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 15:35:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16390418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbubbleddae/pseuds/bbubbleddae
Summary: [Prompt #G32] in which jongja has been in love with her best friend for a long time. all she’s been doing is trying to let go and be there for her when baekhee and her boyfriend “break up” again. but jongja just wants the pain to end — hers and baekhee’s.





	I Want You to Notice Me Too

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is late and i’m so SORRY to the prompter and the mods it is ;; it was very difficult for me to write, especially in a time i’m struggling to write much and school kept me busy,,,, this is just ONE PART. i do plan to continue this, and finish it! i know it’s probably not my best writing nor my usual but i did what i could for the fest, i will go back and do my magic again soon :( in the meantime, i hope this is okay for now !! much love!
> 
> *Mod note: the fic will be rated M when completed, so has been tagged as such.

“What do you think?”

Baekhee is wearing a spectacular dress, with a deep V-neck and an A-line falling down just above her knees. The red wine color and black, shimmery belt around her waist clash beautifully with her skin. Jongja can’t seem to tear her eyes away, though she should. Her hair and makeup aren’t even done up yet and she manages to look that stunning. 

Jongja holds the hitch in her breath coming, smiling. “It’s pretty on you.” Gorgeous.

The older girl blushes, facing the mirror. “Do you think Luhan will like it?”

Ah, of course. It’s always Luhan. Jongja stands from Baekhee’s bed, walking over to her and placing her hands on her best friend’s shoulders. 

“He loves you in everything, of course he’ll love this too.”

Baekhee beams, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Stop, you’re just saying that.” 

“Would I ever lie to you?”

“...No?”

Jongja giggles, squeezing Baekhee’s arm. “Come on, I’ll do your makeup for you.”

Baekhee smiles prettily, following Jongja to the washroom where she sits on the toilet seat. Jongja brought her makeup box she uses for herself, knowing she and Baekhee have similar tastes. Though, Jongja definitely has more as a cosmetology major and finding something in her mess of products that will work with Baekhee’s dress. 

When Jongja starts applying the foundation, Baekhee asks, “Would you do my hair too? You know, like when we were little?”

For a second, Jongja hums as she blends the application. “I think that’s doable.”

Baekhee’s little satisfied smile makes Jongja’s heart skip. 

She has always had that effect on Jongja, even years later. It has been the little things that make Jongja’s stomach flutter and the same smile appear on her face. Being Baekhee’s best friend since they were twelve, Jongja has noticed the little quirks and gestures Baekhee does and she loves them. They make her happy, in an odd sense. Baekhee is a pretty girl, no doubt, but Jongja loves the little things she doesn’t realize she does even more. 

Jongja doesn’t know if she likes Baekhee going on this date tonight. Her boyfriend is a good person and all, but their relationship has been… on again, off again, way too many times. They’ve been good for about two months and Luhan wanted to take her out on a special date tonight for Baekhee’s birthday. It’s the day after tomorrow, Sunday, but Luhan is visiting his hometown for his younger sister’s birthday on Saturday and her party is Sunday. His sister is a drama queen and won’t let Luhan live it down if he doesn’t show up. So he told Baekhee to dress nice earlier before they parted ways with a quick kiss and Baekhee running right to Jongja. 

As she continues applying the makeup to Baekhee’s face, Jongja tries not to let her feelings surface. She is most definitely jealous. Not of Baekhee, but of Luhan. Luhan gets to see her all pretty for the first time tonight, almost unexpectedly. He gets to take her out, hold her hand, take a walk with her after dinner. He gets to see the biggest, prettiest, beaming smile and gets to hear her adoring voice when they talk. He’ll take her home, kiss her goodnight, tell her he’ll see her soon.

If only Jongja had the courage at all to just tell Baekhee how she feels. 

One of the worst things in Jongja’s life is being in love with her best friend. It has been unrequited for years now, ever since Baekhee and Luhan got together for the first time. There was a time Jongja thought, Maybe. Just maybe she feels the same. But one day in their junior year of high school, Baekhee told Jongja she had a crush. That crush was Luhan. And Jongja couldn’t do anything but tell her, “I’m happy for you.” 

When Jongja finishes Baekhee’s face, she urges Baekhee to stand so she can do her hair nicely. Baekhee stands slightly taller than Jongja, but not by much. She combs Baekhee’s black hair and smooths it out each time it runs through. 

“Anything you want specifically?” Jongja asks as she places the comb down. 

Baekhee hums. “Whatever you think suits me. You know best, jaja.”

The term of endearment makes Jongja smile a bit she starts at the top of Baekhee’s hair. She takes a few minutes to make a simple braid crown, leaving Baekhee’s hair down. When she finishes, she finds a white rose hair piece she can put at the back of her head, where the two braids intertwine. 

“Done.”

Baekhee faces the mirror, and her smile is bright and happy when she sees herself. Jongja did her makeup simply, lightly but matching her dress. Her eyes are done up with dusty red eyeshadow and a little eyeliner. Her lips are more of a nude, matching her natural color than any bright color. 

Jongja is suddenly brought in for a tight hug. 

“Thank you, you’re the best!”

Jongja pats Baekhee’s back a bit, pulling away. “Anytime, you know I’ll always do it for you.”

“No one does it better.” Baekhee starts walking out of the room. “He’s gonna be here soon, so I’ll wait outside!” She calls out as she’s slipping on some black wedges. 

“Have fun then!”

Baekhee rushes out and Jongja is left alone in her apartment again.

──────

Jongja is working on some sketches late that night, her roommate and her sister, Oh Seyoung and Kim Junmi, sprawled out on the sofa with Seyoung’s head in Junmi’s lap. They’ve been dating for about a year and a half and Junmi likes to crash at their place maybe five times a week. She’s a year older than Jongja and Seyoung, so she’s pretty close to them. They’re watching a movie and Jongja hasn’t paid any mind to it since it began.

It has been a quiet night the rest of the night, where Seyoung brought takeout food along with Junmi. Jongja just wanted to focus on finishing these sketches for a project in her drawing class tonight, and luckily, Seyoung and Junmi have been quiet and didn’t bother with Jongja.

That is until there’s an urging knock on the door. It’s almost a quarter to eleven when Jongja glances at the clock.

“Who’s here at this time?” Jongja mutters as she stands and stretches her arms, her shirt rising briefly until she puts her arms down. She walks over to the door and there’s another knock before she twists the doorknob. “Yeah yeah, do you know how—”

Standing there is an angry, yet sad and distraught Baekhee. She immediately runs into Jongja’s arms, burying her face in Jongja’s shoulder. 

“Did you guys fight again?”

Baekhee hums, sniffling. She pulls away with tears in her eyes. “I don’t really want to talk about it. Can I just sleep here tonight?”

Jongja rubs Baekhee’s arm. “Of course, let’s get you changed, okay?”

Baekhee nods and takes her shoes off at the front, then closes the door. Jongja takes Baekhee to her room and sits her on the bed, finding a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for Baekhee. She undoes the braids in Baekhee’s hair and helps her unzip her dress. 

“I’ll grab some makeup remover. Change your clothes and I’ll come back in a bit?”

Baekhee manages a tiny smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Okay.”

Jongja walks out to get back to the washroom. As she finds the makeup remover and makeup pads, she wonders what it could have been this time around that they had fought about. A part of Jongja hopes it’ll be the last fight, but even if she hopes for it, they always come back together and fight again. She tries not to think about it too much, albeit honestly, she cannot help it. 

When she comes back, Baekhee is in the t-shirt and shorts and the dress is folded nicely on the bed. Jongja hands over the remover to Baekhee. She takes them without reluctance, facing Jongja’s vanity mirror and starting on her eyes. 

“Seyoung and Junmi-unnie are here. Do you want to come watch the movie with them? I have some sketches to finish too.”

Baekhee finishes her eyes. “I’d prefer to watch you work on your sketches. You’re amazing.”

Jongja finds herself blushing, looking down. “Stop it.”

“Fine,” Baekhee chuckles and chucks the used pads in the trash bin. “I know you hate being watched anyway.”

Jongja walks closer to Baekhee. She squeezes her best friend’s arm. A smile forms on her lips. “If it means raising your spirits just a little, you can watch me. I just want you to feel better.”

Baekhee smiles warmly and closes her arms around Jongja’s waist, head on Jongja’s shoulder. “Thank you, jaja.”

Jongja senses the pain in Baekhee’s voice. She strokes Baekhee’s hair. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re going to be okay.”

Sniff. “‘kay.”

Jongja pulls away slowly. “Come on,” she tugs Baekhee’s wrist. Another smile. “I only have two more sketches.”

Before Jongja can pull Baekhee with her, Baekhee slides her hand in Jongja’s and gently threads their fingers together. Jongja stares upon her, dumbfounded. Baekhee doesn’t hold her hand like this unless something is incredibly serious. She doesn’t hold that solemn smile, she doesn’t go around without makeup around her eyes — even around her closest friends or Luhan. The weight of usually invisible worry becomes heavier. 

But Baekhee doesn’t want to talk about it now, Jongja can tell. The fight must have hurt that much. So instead of asking again, Jongja squeezes tighter, represses the thought of kissing the back of Baekhee’s hand and drags her out of the bedroom.

 

──────

 

The next morning, Jongja wakes up first. She walks out of the bedroom to make Baekhee’s favorite breakfast, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, something to comfort her further.

It’s not that surprising to her, figuring Baekhee had a difficult night. She woke up in tears at one point, stirring Jongja awake and ended up in Jongja’s embrace. Her body trembled and it terrified Jongja so badly, she couldn’t sleep the rest of the night; afraid Baekhee would wake up again and cry more. Baekhee remained asleep, head tucked in Jongja’s chest. Jongja kept petting her hair throughout the night while occasionally sneaking a kiss to her hair and hoping she was dreaming better. 

It must have been a bad fight; no, worse than bad. The last time Baekhee and Luhan had a fight this bad was almost two years ago. Jongja remembers it was because it was their anniversary night and Luhan promised he would be at Baekhee’s apartment by nine o’clock. In general, Luhan is a nice guy but he gets mislead quite often; that night, he went to a club with some friends and drank too much. Baekhee stayed back, all done up and pretty like she was last night, just waiting. 

Luhan stumbled in drunk off his ass. It was nearly midnight. Baekhee cried her heart out, yelling at him it was supposed to be about them, they were supposed to spend time together. In his drunken state, Luhan yelled at her without reason and didn’t even seem apologetic. 

A person’s darkest, deepest secrets come out — directly or indirectly — after a chunk of alcohol consumption. 

No person should treat their significant other like Luhan did Baekhee that night. Ever since then, Jongja has held some sort of resentment toward Luhan, no matter how much harder he tried to be a good boyfriend to her. Jongja has told her many times that Luhan wasn’t right. Whatever he was going through, it was becoming a toxic relationship. But Baekhee is so goddamn stubborn, Jongja is afraid Baekhee doesn’t see it. 

She sincerely hopes this time around, Baekhee understands somewhat and that this time will be the last time they fight like this. 

As Jongja removes the last of the waffles from the maker, she hears footsteps shuffle beside her. They’re Junmi’s footsteps, who puts an arm around Jongja comfortingly. 

“‘Morning, little sis,” she says playfully. 

Jongja elbows Junmi in the chest. “Shouldn’t you be back at your own place?”

“Hmm maybe, but Seyoung begged me to stay the night. And your waffles smell incredible, save some for me.”

“Not in a million fucking years.” Jongja places the waffle maker in the sink. “I made them for Baek.”

Junmi leans on the refrigerator, staring at Jongja lazily. “How is she?”

Jongja sighs. “I think… he hurt her pretty bad, this time.”

“Did she tell you anything?”

A shrug. “Nothing. She didn’t want to talk about it so I didn’t pressure her.” 

Junmi straightens, arms across her chest. She opens the refrigerator and finds the canister of orange juice. 

“I say this again and again, I don’t even understand why they stay together if they can’t learn to keep it together themselves,” Junmi mutters, annoyed. She grabs a glass from a high cupboard. “Luhan has serious anger and even drinking issues, whether he’s a good person or not. Baekhee is going to get seriously hurt soon, if she isn’t hurt so much already.” Junmi pours some juice in the class and leaves it on there countertop.

Jongja nods. “I say the same thing. They’re both so stubborn to admit it though.”

“Can’t you, like, just tell her how you feel? Maybe it’ll open her eyes a little.”

A blush rises in Jongja’s face. “N—No, I don’t think it’s the right time for that.”

“Whatever. Your funeral.” Junmi shrugs, taking a sip. “I just don’t want you to feel like you loving her like you do is wasteful on your youth.” 

Jongja nibbles her lip. “It’s not wasteful.”

Junmi doesn’t have an answer for that, so Jongja walks out of the kitchen and back to her room. She knocks on the door, in case Baekhee decided to change her clothes if she is awake. There’s a soft come in from inside. Jongja opens the door only to see Baekhee, sitting up and pulling her hair back in a ponytail. After she tightens it, she smiles brighter than she did last night upon seeing Jongja. She can still see the red rimming the bottoms of Baekhee’s eyes from crying, but her smile is still as radiant. 

“Good morning.” Jongja sits on the bed with Baekhee, squeezing her hand. “Are you feeling better, Baek?”

“A little.”

Jongja offers her a smile. “I made breakfast. Waffles and strawberries.”

Baekhee beams. “Really?”

“I did.” Jongja stands, pulling Baekhee’s hand. “You better come out and eat some now before my sister steals them.” 

Baekhee gets on her feet slowly, linking her arm with Jongja’s. “I’ll murder.”

Jongja laughs. “I know. Come on.”

They go back to the conjoined dining and kitchen area, where Seyoung is finally awake and had already made some coffee. The four girls in the apartment all dish out enough food for themselves and eat lively, all trying to make Baekhee smile a bit more. It’s working, when Junmi teases Seyoung and Jongja tells random (dumb) jokes. It’s nice to see Baekhee smile like this, and occasionally rest her head on Jongja’s shoulder again. Baekhee looks too pretty to hurt so much, Jongja can’t imagine what must really be going through her head right now. But all she knows is that she just wants to be there for Baekhee. It’s what Baekhee needs most now and Jongja hopes she can be enough for a while.

After breakfast, Baekhee helps Jongja clean up a bit. Seyoung and Junmi went back to Seyoung’s room after all was said and done, so it has been Jongja and Baekhee for the past fifteen-twenty minutes. Baekhee helps dry and put dishes away, seemingly relaxed in the comfortable silence. 

Jongja finishes the last of the dishes. She dries her hands and leans on the counter. “So,” she starts, watching as Baekhee puts the last plates and glasses away. “I was thinking we could go out shopping for your birthday. You know, like to all your favorite stores and we can stay somewhere like when we were teenagers.”

Baekhee hums. “That sounds nice.” She smiles. “I’d like that. It’ll help me clear my head a little.”

Jongja’s lips turn down. She brushes her hand against Baekhee’s arm. “You know I’m here for you, right? Any and all the time?”

“Of course. You always have been.”

“Good.” Jongja pulls her into a tight embrace, her heart beating a little faster. “You’re too pretty to be sad like this, Baek. I just want you to be happy, okay?”

Baekhee nods in her shoulder.


End file.
